Artorious
The Artorious is a variant of the Virginia-class carrier for the ESF's Solbrave Squadron in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer. Technology & Combat Characteristics The Artorious is a "Virginia-Class Refit"; a GN-enhanced version of the Union's Virginia-class ships. The ship itself was part of an aging fleet of MS carriers slated for retirement; as more modern and advanced carriers like the Ural-class and Baikal-class had already succeeded the class around AD 2312. However, due to the new ESF administration's pacifistic policies, there was limited production in military force. To have an effective military without sacrificing strength, the ESF-Army began refitting their pre-existing armada with new technology, weapons, systems, and equipment; the Artorious was chosen for an overhaul. Assigned and customized to the Solbrave squadron, the Artorious is the most unique ship of its class. Externally, the ship's hull had been altered. The bow of the ship has been extended, about twice the length of the original class size (resembling the nose of the SVMS-01O Over Flag's Trident Striker). The two MS hanger modules had been replaced with a shorter version, about half the length of the original hangers. While the original MS hangers were separated from each other, the new alteration inter-connected the modules as a single hanger. In each of the three modules, two Braves were stored, one hanging from the ceiling, and one on the floor. These improvements allowed the ship to still carry 6 mobile suits in half the space. The midsection of the hanger uses as a transparent glass-like hatch as to traditional metal doorways. Because the original design of the class was weak against beam weaponry, an additional layer of hull armor was added to the port and starboard to shield the hanger and bridge against enemy fire. The aft of the ship was also retro-fitted with a new propulsion system. The original plasma drives were replaced with a hybrid propulsion system between plasma and GN Particles. The smaller plasma thrusters were kept, but the primary engines were replaced with 2 GN T Drives. When emergency speeds are needed, it can execute the Trans-Am System. Like any unit using GN Drive Taus, there are limited particles for use and a recharge system was placed into the hangers to recharge the drives of the Solbraves and another one for its engines (presumably).Mobile Suit Gundam 00 A wakening of The Trailblazer For weapons, the Artorius's Rail Cannons were replaced with Laser Cannons. Four of these cannons are attached to the ship: the bow, forward port & starboard, and aft. This gives the ship nearly 360-spherical-degree of defensive coverage, but for unexplained reasons, ESF engineers never added additional guns nor added GN Missiles like other refitted ships. A strong weakness is that the ship doesn't have cannons at the bottom of the ship; it gives enemy attackers an advantage in combat situations. The new alternations made the Artorious overall smaller, lighter, faster, and more maneuverable than its brethren counterparts. However, the ship isn't shielded enough to endure direct combat against Celestial Being nor a Nile-class battlecruiser. Its hull is still a large liability in combat as only its sides were only reinforced and the rest of its hull is still vulnerable to GN-weaponry. Like all battlecruisers made by the ESF, the Artorious is best applied as transportation to the Braves into battle and rear support. Even though a vast improvement, the ship by no means is superior to modern battleships of the ESF space armada. Armaments ;*Laser Cannon :The cannons are the same variety of particle weapons found on the Baikal-class. They were designed to be universally adaptable to any equipment port for a ESF vessel. Four of these cannons are attached to the ship: the bow, forward port, starboard, and aft. Special Equipment & Features ;*Trans-Am System History ELS Conflict The Artorious was briefly seen heading to the front line, where the ESF and Celestial Being fought the ELS swarms, carrying the Solbraves with it by Trans-Am. However, it is unknown if it participated the battle after unloading the Solbrave squadron. Picture Gallery Viriginia-kai.jpg|Artorius artorious-back.jpg|Aft view Artorius_Movie.png|Artorius in Trans-Am Notes & Trivia References Artorius - Data File.jpg|Artorius - Data File A342334.png External links *Virgina class on MAHQ.net